Build Better with Anastasia Barnes

On season 4, episode 3 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Sarah Tarbet, senior associate at Jones Architecture, and Jennifer Burton, senior project manager for the Office of Planning at the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (or DCAMM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Tarbet and Burton share more about a project currently underway at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Mass. which includes the transformation of two structures on campus into the new homes of the Allied Health Building and the Science Building. They expand on the unique design approach for these buildings centered on inclusivity, and discuss the emphasis on campus engagement that is informing the final design.

On season 4, episode 2 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Amin Najjar, CEO of Sustainable Buildings at Veolia North America. Veolia’s mission is to resource the world, helping its customers address their environmental and sustainability challenges in energy, water and waste. 

Najjar talks about how Veolia is helping companies improve energy efficiency, including upgrading the buildings in the city of Boston to achieve mandatory requirements that are fast approaching, and how these changes can have a lasting impact on the planet in the long term.

On season 4, episode 1 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Dr. Aisha Francis, the president and CEO of Franklin Cummings Tech in Boston. In 2021, she became the first female president in the more than 100-year history of the college.

Dr. Francis believes in the ability of effective organizations and well-supported individuals to transform underserved communities for the better. She shares her dedication to both educating and empowering students in the technical fields, and discusses the mutual benefits for both students and employers that are looking to fill essential roles and create robust teams in the architecture, engineering, and construction fields.

On season 3, episode 4 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Luciana Burdi, director of capital programs & environmental affairs at Massport, to discuss her journey, the challenges she's overcome as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and her vision for the future of commercial construction.

Additionally, Burdi talks about how Massport has tackled challenges in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the evolving flexible work environment, and the impact of new technology on construction projects.

Teach to Work: Equipping the Next Generation of Young Professionals

On season 3, episode 3 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Patty Alper, president of marketing and consulting company Alper Portfolio Group. She is working to address the workforce shortage in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries by educating students through mentorships and meaningful on-the-job experience. 

Alper is author of the book, Teach to Work: How a Mentor, a Mentee, and a Project Can Close the Skills Gap in America. On the podcast, she shares how Project Based Mentoring brings together corporate employees, retirees, and businesses as a corps of knowledge practitioners with the common goal of passing on skills to the next generation of business professionals.

In Season 3, episode 2 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia welcomes Christopher Grallert, president of Green City Growers, a company whose mission is to provide inspiring shared experiences for employees, customers, and community members that educate and enable people to grow food sustainably.

Grallert shares more about how the team at Green City Growers is furthering their goal of creating increased connection with onsite gardens, and educating the next generation on how to create and maintain local food systems in Boston and beyond.

On season 3, episode 1 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Matt O’Malley, the first-ever chief sustainability officer for Vicinity Energy. He discusses Vicinity’s Clean Energy Future, Net Zero Carbon plan, and how the company is working with its customers, communities, and local government to decarbonize its operations across the country and reduce the impact of the energy sector on the earth’s atmosphere.

On season 2, episode 16 of the Build Better podcast, Anastasia talks with Reverend Jeffrey Brown, co-founder of My City at Peace and associate pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, and Tom O’Brien, founding partner and CEO of The HYM Investment Group. They recently presented a proposal to the City of Boston for Parcel 3 in Roxbury that would set an example of a truly diverse and equitable development for the city. 

The team’s proposal for the almost 8-acre parcel includes affordable homeownership units that create opportunities to establish generational wealth for the residents of Roxbury, and a life sciences component that supports that goal. Brown and O’Brien share more about this unprecedented development, and the ways they are ensuring that it would have a positive impact on those that live and work in Roxbury for years to come.

Margulies and Finn talk about their mission to create an efficient, cost-effective, and replicable model of new construction designed specifically to address the needs of long-term and chronically homeless people in the state.